Progress Reports

Progress reports are reports written by individuals detailing their activities since the last progress report. The first progress report documents activities since the start of the project. Since a progress report is an individual's report about his activities, there should be no need to consult other group member's regarding one's progress report. Individuals shall write their own progress reports without consulting other group members.

Each progress report shall be printed on one whole sheet of short bond paper. Progress reports shall not exceed one sheet of short bond paper. Progress reports must in one sheet of short bond paper give detailed descriptions of an individual's specific contribution to the project during the interval covered by the report. For individuals working as part of a group, the report must start with a brief summary of the groups efforts during the period covered by the report. The bulk of the report must be about his activities during the period. It is recommended that progress reports terminate with a brief statement regarding what might be expected by the next progress report.

Five progress reports shall be required. Deadlines for progress reports shall be indicated in the course timetable. Progress reports shall be accepted within 24 hours of, but not beyond, the indicated deadlines.

Format of Progress Reports

(margin about 1 inch on all sides)

Name
Project Title

Date

Progress Report N

Students who are working in groups should start their progress reports with a summary of the group's activities. This summary is at most about 10% of the progress report.

Next, students must give a summary of their activities. This is at most about 10% of the progress report.

The bulk of the progress report, about 70% or more of the report, shall be devoted to providing details about the student's activities in relation to the project. Normally, a progress report should contain enough details so as to cover almost the whole sheet of short bond paper.

Progress reports that fall far short of covering the whole page will normally not earn full credit. However, progress reports should never exceed one page either. Progress reports that exceed one page earn no credit.

The font used shall be about the size of 10 or 12 pt Times New Roman. Progress reports that use small fonts, or that try to crowd too much text into one page (such as one consisting of one very long paragraph and with hardly any spacing between paragraphs) shall be treated the same way as progress reports exceeding one page and shall earn no credit. Progress reports that use large fonts so as to cover a large part of the page will normally not earn full credit.

What should be written in a progress report would depend on the kind of activity undertaken.

Where the activities consist mostly of studying or research, the report may identify and describe the materials studied, explain the signifance of the material for the project, and provide details as to what exactly was learned from the study, that would be useful to the project.

Where the activities consist of writing code, the report may describe the purpose of the code. The report may also describe alternative approaches considered, or details about how the program code evolved. It is, however, usually not acceptable to include a large section of code in the report, simply to have the report cover the whole page. The progress report must decribe what the code developed does, rather than display the code itself.

Where the activities consist of testing and debugging code, the report may describe the methodology and extent of the tests done. It could also include conclusions or resolutions reached as a result of the testing.

Where hardware is developed or tested, the activity is reported on the same that software development or testing is reported. Including a schematic in the report simply to have the report cover the whole page is not acceptable in the same way that including large sections of code is not acceptable.

A progress report ends with brief statements regarding the next activities to be pursued by the individual and by the group. This last part of the progress report is at most about 10% of the progress report.

Progress reports earn either 0, 1 or 2 points.

Progress reports are typically graded as follows:

0 pts are given to someone who does not submit a progress report by the indicated deadline, or whose report indicates too little progress, or whose report exceeds one sheet of short bond paper; 0 pts are given if the report consists only of a few lines or sentences.

1 pt is given if progress made is significant but not sufficient; 1 pt is also given when various group members submit similar progress reports; 1 pt may be given if the report is significantly less than a whole page. 1 pt is given if the report simply describes the group's activities in detail, rather than the individual's.

2 pts are given when sufficient progress has been made, appropriately documented in a sufficiently detailed report.

Inclusion of Progress Reports in the Final Documentation

Project groups must retain copies of all progress reports submitted by all group members since these will have to be included in the project documentation CD to be submitted at the end of the semester.

Progress Reports

Format of Progress Reports

Grading of Progress Reports

Inclusion of Progress Reports in the Final Documentation